I think most of us know that we can’t rely on ball flight and distance control from range balls, I simply use the range balls for rhythm and contact. The range prevents me from losing an entire sleeve of Pro V1’s on the front nine, my club has a lot of water hazards!
Thank you for doing this, Mr. ShortGame. I see so many conflicting assessments of range balls vs real balls on UA-cam. But your results here confirm what I think I see at my local driving ranges: That they are roughly 5 to 10% shorter than real golf balls. What was surprising was the increased dispersion. I can finally comfortably ignore distances now at the range and just focus on the quality of the strike.
Almost all of my practice is hitting SW-7i using good balls (primarily new kirkland balls) on private property I'm fortunate to have access to. Makes an enormous difference when hitting balls that you actually play with. I put 48 new balls in a shag bag and once they're hit about 150 times or so, I replace them with new balls. When I want to hit longer clubs, I go to the range.
The main reason I bought my Mevo plus was to establish average carry distances for all my clubs in standard conditions. It took another year or so to apply that to real life conditions and learn how to adjust for lie conditions, slope, wind and temperature. Range sessions are to work on swing changes and feel. A fade/draw/slice/hook/push/pull or shank isn’t affected by ball quality
Liked the video, Good comparison. In the UK we have a lot of driving ranges with Trackman or Toptracer. How about a video on the accuracy of these compared to your GC Quad? as to whether we can trust them for gapping?
Range balls are so rough on driver faces for high swing speed players. The scuffs/scrapes from heavy use and countless cycles through the picker and cleaner leave a lot of surface damage. The impact on those range balls on a thin driver face can easily cause cracks.
I've worked hard on driving the last year and as a result, caved a face on a rogue st max, crack on top near the crown on the replacement, upgraded to ai smoke, cracked the face of that. 185mph driver ball speed (course speed) and probably get to 190+ at the range. Part of the issue is the manufacturers making the face super thin, use of composites and wanting to move the moi to the rear for forgiveness.
I stopped hitting the range before each game a few years ago and my game improved dramatically. Warm ups for me is just stretching and a few ghost swings before entering the Tee box at hole #1.
Can you post some slo-mo of the robot swing and ball contact to get a better understanding of what is happing at contact when you remove human error/swing preference? Would be a nice baseline to work from.
Most driving ranges near me use what they call 80% balls because they don't want people hitting cars on a neighboring road or freeway. This means if you hit your gamer ball 250 yards with a driver, your drives at the range may only go 200 yards with range balls.
This was a brilliant video, very eye-opening. Here is another element you should test: Does a Return Net skew flight data vs a regular flat net? The Return Net is great because it sends the ball back to you, but the sides are curved and I am wondering if the launch monitor will mistakingly show the incorrect flight path based on what the net does to the ball? That would be another great ROBOT Test!
It depends on the brand and model of range balls: there are also balls specifically made in order to shorten shots by 20%. Not to mention that there are even balls made for floating on water (I know a driving range close to Linate airport in Milan, Italy, where balls are shot from bays onto a lake having few little islands as targets... and then they are retrieved by a boat).
Range Balls are exactly that, range balls! Being a club fitter, I get asked everyday “what ball should I play” and I respond the same every time! Do you need spin around the green, do you need height off the tee? Go try different balls and start at the green and go back! Just cause a ball is great with driver doesn’t mean it will be what you need around the green. Try any PREMIUM ball (prov1, TP5, chrome tour, etc) and see what you like the feel of and what helps your game!
The trackman at my home course tries to compensate for range balls and it's doing a pretty good job at it too. I've dialed in my iron distances and it's pretty much spot on with the AD333s I play.
I hit range balls and focus on solid contact by rubbing chalk on the clubface, When I played only muscle-back irons, I could tell off-center hits more easily than I can with perimeter weighted irons. A plus-3 handicap friend of mine used to tell me to hit a ball every 5 minutes, much like you do on the course, and be very critical of how I was striking it. It's a brutal regimen to follow when you're hitting it bad.
The Toptracer at my local range says it compensates for range balls vs. newer ones. In the warmup mode, it'll show both distances and speeds, and there is always a significant difference along the lines of what you're getting here. The distance compensation may or may not be accurate for each ball (depending on the type & condition), but if you use it a lot and take the average distances, it probably gives a decent enough indication of what to expect with each club on the course.
At Legends here in Myrtle Beach when they add new range balls to the mix from time to time they fly pretty true honestly. 2/3 of the bucket are old and could react weirdly in many ways. The brand new range balls fly and react pretty much normally. I may do an experiment and grab a couple and play a round with them out of curiosity
I bought a gc3 2 years ago and my swing in terms of distance and accuracy increased so much. One year ago, I upgraded my gc3 to gcquad, then I started understanding the ball flight dynamics like what determines a slice or hook. Now I am comfortably shaping a shot for any distance.
I was hitting my 7 iron at local toptracer range the other week, and came across an old pro v1 in amongst the balls, so I dug out a few more old ones from my bag and compared to range balls. I knew range balls were not as good, but I was shocked to see the difference in person! I was averaging 160 with range balls, and 180 with pro v1.... the speed was obviously higher too, but the peak height shocked me more. 85 ft range....130 plus pro v1.
I use the range to warm-up my swing. I learned a lot time ago not to use my distances on the range. I've also learned not to "trust" the trajectory. I can't count the number of times I've hit nice, controlled draws on the range only to get on the course and miss badly left.
Ok. Seemed basic at first, but it helped me a lot. I didn't know the range balls were that bad. Thanks for the video! Warm up only from now on with limited expectations on results.
This is the kind of testing I always asked for, except we would all like to compare balls that aren't range balls. Pro V against Callaway or Bridgestone, or Taylor Made. Can you do this?
Jeez, it feels inevitable that this video had to come out of the USA. Only in America , apparently, do they go to the range and expect to get completely accurate feedback from the range balls. Everywhere else in the world we factor in the condition and type of balls and make allowances for them. We go to practice our technique , from taking up the stance through to the way we make the swing. As long as the contact is solid we’re happy enough. If I was concerned with my gapping I’d go to a facility that has in house launch monitors and screens and do the job properly. More than anything I go to the range for the sheer joy of hitting golf balls without necessarily feeling the pressure of the outcome. Most of the significant improvements I have made have been whilst ‘playing’ at the driving range.
I dont think I heard this specified in the video, but when testing, did you guys alternate between prov1 and range balls at each swing, or did you first do a group of prov1s and then then a group of range balls?
range is great but you need to focus on feel and sound, once you can differentiate ball first vs mat first you cannot unhear it-ever. if your pounding the mat put some painters tape a few inches behind your ball it is incredible how much it cleans your swing up from contact to finish.
For many of us we can get distance on course, range is to get some drills in and ensure good strike. We can also calculate the limited flight and its not important to get distances perfect. 20k for a piece of tech a garage setup with net is beyond us. Many ranges offer integrated monitors anyway that adjust for the range balls. Also many ranges off "grass" to hit off this is key to practice as well. AND they offer chipping and putting greens.
I agree with everything...except one factor not discussed - the value of hitting off grass vs a mat. Mats can be too forgiving, especially for a beginner/intermediate who is trying to dial in consistent solid contact. I think that would be a good video - compare 10 shots on grass with a portable launch monitor, then move over to a mat and hit 10 more shots with the same club.
Right. This video left me with the impression that the only two places really worth practicing are either a country club with decent pratice balls, or on a course. There is a third option, to find a field and bring a shagbag. But nobody is hitting driver out there.
Totally agree! That mat vs grass comparison would be far more valuable to me. Don't hit off mats anymore as not only are the results deceiving as to what to expect under real life conditions. As well, the impact of hitting off a mat over time is brutal on your arm and elbow joints. Unfortunately practicing off a mat doesn't mimic reality!☹
I’m not sure why this is even a question. Range balls, at most courses and standalone ranges, are the cheapest quality balls you can get. Then, they all get hit 8000 times. High end courses usually have a decent range ball, but even on those, they are the rejects from regular production. I’m all for practicing, but overall, most players don’t even practice correctly at a range. They just sit there and pound balls. It’s essentially an income stream for a course, like carts. Some courses don’t even allow you to walk, because they want to stuff as many golfers as they can in carts in every tee time. I played at this one course recently, and it took over 5 hours to play 18 holes. They just stuff people on the course. They are more than happy to stick 4 people in carts with a cooler full of beer that they bought at the course. I mean they probably squeeze out $300 on every tee time on a weekend. At 9 tee times per hour, and 12 hrs of open course, they are raking in the cash. Range balls they replace every blue moon, is just part of the income stream.
You are right! Golf courses don't care about how much fun you should be having, they just want to make as much money as they can. I have always thought that golf course should have a certain number of players that can play in about 4 hours , and just stop putting people out. That way you will keep coming back.
I've been behind 4 old walking farts that could care less about the groups behind them. Same goes with 4 old farts in golf carts. All you can do is say to yourself it's going to be a long day. Just saying
good vid, but where i'm at here in NC (and i suspect most other ranges are like this as well), they're using multiple types of golf balls, most likely balls they've purchased from folks finding them on the side. You can tell a waterball from the others easily enough. Basically what i do is hit the decent ones with clubs i'd hit anywhere between 150-200 yards, the slightly worse ones for the 100 yard shots, and the REALLY bad ones for the 50 yard pitches. I wish i could afford one of those GC3's, but i can't. It would take me an untold # of range balls to save to purchase such a thing (well, maybe not untold --- actually it would take about 875 buckets at $8/bucket). I know it's not an exact science, but plenty of times you get some actually good-looking balls to gauge shots against. Getting a feel for an iron hitting actual ground, seeing the launch of the ball, etc. just can't be replicated at an indoor facility. Mats have been known to let you get away with a poor swing, but you won't off actual grass. I'd rather see folks like myself of limited income working on their games at the driving range than nowhere at all.
What if the range uses Pro V1s? How long before those balls go bad? I don't play often but when I go to the range it's usually at a nice course someone I know is a menber at.
I own an R10 and purchased the awesome golf APP and already owned PRGR. So happy to be with 5% of a camera based system, on a budget $1000 or £700 UK My practice is a 90 distance balls at my my local club from a shag bag. 60,52, 9i, 7i , 5i then the same targets with 56, PW, 8i, 6i. then Long irons, driver, short game is a separate session. If foresight brought the price of the GC quad to $1000 yes I would buy. Tens of thousands would too. I refuse to pay $15,000 for 5 year old camera technology. In the UK/Ireland we have a saying there is fast pounds (£1) and slow Fivers ( £5 notes). Slow fiver means you will sell a few but never sell a million.
I always hit some balls before I play just to get the motion of my swing warmed up. I will go hit large buckets at the range when Im trying something different or if I have the shanks but as a high handicapper I never really concern myself with distance simply because the range is so much different from play. I kinda always figured everyone felt the same.
I hit hook slices at my range every time I go. Some of the balls at my range are so old Arnold Palmer was using them. I basically just work on timing tempo and contact everything else is a guess
I don't know, we have shiny brand new (monthly or so) Titleist balls on our range, stamped with PRACTICE on the side, are they shorter than a ball not stamped PRACTICE???
Those are the best range balls. I have seen Callaway Crome Soft practice balls as well. Both the ProV1s and Chrome Soft practice balls are the real deal that didn’t pass QC to sell as new balls. It can be as minor as smudged writing on the ball to a not perfectly centered core. I don’t think the really bad ones even make the Practice ball batch. For the most part the Practice ProV1s are the same as a regular ProV1 but there is still a level of uncertainty with each one. If you take 10 swings with Practice ProVs, throw out outliers, then your average should be pretty darn close to actual averages with real ProVs.
If this isn't a wake up call for fitters and teaching instructors that use range balls I don't know what will. I was fitted at my club for a GT2 Driver last month and the Titleist fitter used our range balls and my fitting wasn't a good experience. NEVER AGAIN !
I thought it was common knowledge that the range with beat up range balls is where you go to get some swings in, fix your swing, work on swing thoughts etc...
I was so frustrated the other day. Went to a driving range which is a little short. I usually carry my 8 around 155. I couldn’t hit the range balls past the 140 marker. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
I've played a round with a new range ball that was of decent quality and shot under par just for fun just because a friend of mine told me I couldn't. They're obviously never going to perform as good as the leading golf balls out there but nobody expects them to. I don't think anybody was thinking they were the same out here.
This is why I buy the Pro V1 practice balls...Pros use them on the range and they are 99.8% the same as one off the shelf! might have a tiny imperfection on the cover!
Great video, great test, but the graphics is just bad. You can’t out +10 and -10 on each sides, because that it makes 20 difference. Which is not the case. You should either show the value (like 130 yards) on one side and then +10 on the other or just one of those
my local range has a menagerie of random balls, some from under the water some with rubber bands in them, some are ladies, some are just rocks painted white I believe. so range work is kinda odd, use it for muscle memory. putting and chipping a just carry a dozen of what i am having luck with on course.
Haven’t been to an Driving range in Years ,hit some in my back yard into woods ,Shot 71 -1 under last week . Five Shoulder Surgeries ,7 knee surgeries ,just don’t have all those swings ,play 2 -3 Days an week 18 holes.
I have never gone to the range for distance . I go for shot shape and impact practice . I honestly can't believe that every one does not know this . But in every bucket of balls there are some balls that are almost like new . I keep those for my driver and all the shitty ones for my chipping and short irons .
Trouble is most people don’t hit from grass when practising - they hit from mats or other surfaces. This all impacts distance on real courses as ball does not sit up - therefore affects distance and direction much more (in my opinion). Whether you use a hard/soft/‘standard’ range ball - the difference will be marginal. Everyone makes as if 10yards distance difference is massive - it’s NOTHING for the standard golfer.
A natural turf range where you simply focus on strike, arc, ground contact (or warming up for a round) is fine when the balls are questionable. If you need to focus on target accuracy, distance, will definitely need to hit some decent quality balls, preferably at a quality range/club. Hitting off of a mat has other deception issues!😮
I don't care about the distance of range balls, never have. I know how far my irons go. I trust that. I just use the range to warm up and when I practice, to work on whatever it is I need to work on. I know when I hit the center of the face, and since I play at a very good course, the range balls aren't all scuffed up and gouged.
I hit'm long and straight on the range and longer and straighter on the course, always taking into account that my short irons go a lot farther on the course so I basically go down a club and everything evens out. I think spending time hitting range balls is not a waste of my time.
When I find real golf balls on the course while playing if they are not the same ball that I play I put them in a bag so that when I go to practice on the range I will have enough of them to hit atleast 6 clubs on the range 5 times. Exp: so i will practice with the range balls hitting all my clubs 5-10 times with the range ball then I will go back and pick 6 clubs to hit 5 times with the real balls using a launch monitor.
One local range just uses "lost" balls from the course, you could get a bucket and hit 50 different brand/models of balls. obviously that has it's own drawbacks, but it's a nice way of finding a new ball, buy a dozen and try out next round.
Jesus your channel has come such a long way since I first subscribed. I remember when you building and hitting balls in your backyard net and then built the indoor putting green. Now you’ve got robots and drones?! So sweet
A caveat: I found that my "accuracy" decreased over time using my GC3 launch monitor. On my GC3 I hit my practice balls hundreds of times each and found my (simulated) game was slowly getting worse on my stats. My question is: What is the correlation of the condition of the golf ball using a launch monitor? I'm sure the dimples are being worn down as well as just general degradation - how does this show up on a launch monitor? Does it matter the quality of the ball using a launch monitor?
I think most of us know that we can’t rely on ball flight and distance control from range balls, I simply use the range balls for rhythm and contact. The range prevents me from losing an entire sleeve of Pro V1’s on the front nine, my club has a lot of water hazards!
I fixed this problem by playing Range Balls on the course. Never look for a wayward ball again.😉
🤣🤣🤣🤣👍👍👍👍
Lol….😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
That’s really funny. You might be playing at my home course because I keep finding range balls on the course LOL
so you are the guy spraying range balls all over the woods! 😂😂😂😂
Love it
7:57...I played Pebble in my garage with a glass of vino last night. It's better than what's on TV.
I’m jealous lol…one day…
I don't know why he thought a bottle of wine was dependent on netflix.
I don't get distances from ranges, usually more focused on strike, launch, basic shape, etc.
We know range balls are various degrees of junk.
even then it can be a challenge. fighting some poor ball that has been baked in the sun for a few months.
I’m there to check strike and whether ball is going the direction I’m aiming. I hardly hit driver. Maybe a few. Mostly I work on 9 iron down
Precisely. And it's pretty easy to tell if a ball veers drastically offline compared to how you struck it.
I go before a round to get loose and concentrate on ball striking and line.
Yeah. I get my distances from the shot scope app. Based on how I actually got the ball in the real world.
I absolutely love this series! Would watch every test you can think of using the robot. Great video!
In other BREAKING NEWS - Water is Wet!
Thank you for doing this, Mr. ShortGame. I see so many conflicting assessments of range balls vs real balls on UA-cam. But your results here confirm what I think I see at my local driving ranges: That they are roughly 5 to 10% shorter than real golf balls. What was surprising was the increased dispersion. I can finally comfortably ignore distances now at the range and just focus on the quality of the strike.
Just hit the range last night and they had new range balls and some old ones in there too. Crazy how bad the old ones were
I've been hitting at a range with Top Tracer. Every iron is at least one club shorter, I knew it was the range balls.
Almost all of my practice is hitting SW-7i using good balls (primarily new kirkland balls) on private property I'm fortunate to have access to. Makes an enormous difference when hitting balls that you actually play with. I put 48 new balls in a shag bag and once they're hit about 150 times or so, I replace them with new balls. When I want to hit longer clubs, I go to the range.
Thank you for this video. I really enjoy the videos with the robot comparison; they always reveal "hidden" information.
The main reason I bought my Mevo plus was to establish average carry distances for all my clubs in standard conditions. It took another year or so to apply that to real life conditions and learn how to adjust for lie conditions, slope, wind and temperature.
Range sessions are to work on swing changes and feel. A fade/draw/slice/hook/push/pull or shank isn’t affected by ball quality
Fade and draw are according to the test in the video
What a great video! Just like ShotScope stats - helps us all to manage our own expectations.
Liked the video, Good comparison. In the UK we have a lot of driving ranges with Trackman or Toptracer. How about a video on the accuracy of these compared to your GC Quad? as to whether we can trust them for gapping?
Range balls are so rough on driver faces for high swing speed players. The scuffs/scrapes from heavy use and countless cycles through the picker and cleaner leave a lot of surface damage. The impact on those range balls on a thin driver face can easily cause cracks.
I've worked hard on driving the last year and as a result, caved a face on a rogue st max, crack on top near the crown on the replacement, upgraded to ai smoke, cracked the face of that. 185mph driver ball speed (course speed) and probably get to 190+ at the range. Part of the issue is the manufacturers making the face super thin, use of composites and wanting to move the moi to the rear for forgiveness.
That was very informative.
I stopped hitting the range before each game a few years ago and my game improved dramatically. Warm ups for me is just stretching and a few ghost swings before entering the Tee box at hole #1.
Can you post some slo-mo of the robot swing and ball contact to get a better understanding of what is happing at contact when you remove human error/swing preference? Would be a nice baseline to work from.
Most driving ranges near me use what they call 80% balls because they don't want people hitting cars on a neighboring road or freeway. This means if you hit your gamer ball 250 yards with a driver, your drives at the range may only go 200 yards with range balls.
A range close to where I live uses the same kind of balls: after I've found out, I've never been there anymore.
Brilliant vlog, thank you 🙏
This was a brilliant video, very eye-opening. Here is another element you should test: Does a Return Net skew flight data vs a regular flat net? The Return Net is great because it sends the ball back to you, but the sides are curved and I am wondering if the launch monitor will mistakingly show the incorrect flight path based on what the net does to the ball? That would be another great ROBOT Test!
Awesome video. Great idea to share. So is the range ball like 10%% less distance ?
It depends on the brand and model of range balls: there are also balls specifically made in order to shorten shots by 20%. Not to mention that there are even balls made for floating on water (I know a driving range close to Linate airport in Milan, Italy, where balls are shot from bays onto a lake having few little islands as targets... and then they are retrieved by a boat).
Range Balls are exactly that, range balls!
Being a club fitter, I get asked everyday “what ball should I play” and I respond the same every time!
Do you need spin around the green, do you need height off the tee? Go try different balls and start at the green and go back! Just cause a ball is great with driver doesn’t mean it will be what you need around the green. Try any PREMIUM ball (prov1, TP5, chrome tour, etc) and see what you like the feel of and what helps your game!
I play whatever my dad who's a greenkeeper finds on the course.
I warm up on the Range. Snag a few and play my round. I cracked this code and solved this problem 10 years ago.
The trackman at my home course tries to compensate for range balls and it's doing a pretty good job at it too. I've dialed in my iron distances and it's pretty much spot on with the AD333s I play.
I hit range balls and focus on solid contact by rubbing chalk on the clubface, When I played only muscle-back irons, I could tell off-center hits more easily than I can with perimeter weighted irons. A plus-3 handicap friend of mine used to tell me to hit a ball every 5 minutes, much like you do on the course, and be very critical of how I was striking it. It's a brutal regimen to follow when you're hitting it bad.
The Toptracer at my local range says it compensates for range balls vs. newer ones. In the warmup mode, it'll show both distances and speeds, and there is always a significant difference along the lines of what you're getting here.
The distance compensation may or may not be accurate for each ball (depending on the type & condition), but if you use it a lot and take the average distances, it probably gives a decent enough indication of what to expect with each club on the course.
At Legends here in Myrtle Beach when they add new range balls to the mix from time to time they fly pretty true honestly. 2/3 of the bucket are old and could react weirdly in many ways. The brand new range balls fly and react pretty much normally. I may do an experiment and grab a couple and play a round with them out of curiosity
I bought a gc3 2 years ago and my swing in terms of distance and accuracy increased so much. One year ago, I upgraded my gc3 to gcquad, then I started understanding the ball flight dynamics like what determines a slice or hook. Now I am comfortably shaping a shot for any distance.
your subscription allows this.
@@terryjenner2156you mean the software subscription to gc3 and quad?
I was hitting my 7 iron at local toptracer range the other week, and came across an old pro v1 in amongst the balls, so I dug out a few more old ones from my bag and compared to range balls.
I knew range balls were not as good, but I was shocked to see the difference in person!
I was averaging 160 with range balls, and 180 with pro v1.... the speed was obviously higher too, but the peak height shocked me more.
85 ft range....130 plus pro v1.
I use the range to warm-up my swing. I learned a lot time ago not to use my distances on the range. I've also learned not to "trust" the trajectory. I can't count the number of times I've hit nice, controlled draws on the range only to get on the course and miss badly left.
Ok. Seemed basic at first, but it helped me a lot. I didn't know the range balls were that bad. Thanks for the video! Warm up only from now on with limited expectations on results.
Fake news, I hit great on the range but I'll go on the course and play like shit
The key to golf is taking your range game to the course. Tuff to do.
U obviously didn't get the concept of the whole video
@@beardeddutchman5197 you obviously didn't get my joke
Great video Matt. Thank you!
This is the kind of testing I always asked for, except we would all like to compare balls that aren't range balls. Pro V against Callaway or Bridgestone, or Taylor Made. Can you do this?
"And this is with a robot", that's when my head exploded...
Jeez, it feels inevitable that this video had to come out of the USA. Only in America , apparently, do they go to the range and expect to get completely accurate feedback from the range balls. Everywhere else in the world we factor in the condition and type of balls and make allowances for them. We go to practice our technique , from taking up the stance through to the way we make the swing. As long as the contact is solid we’re happy enough. If I was concerned with my gapping I’d go to a facility that has in house launch monitors and screens and do the job properly. More than anything I go to the range for the sheer joy of hitting golf balls without necessarily feeling the pressure of the outcome. Most of the significant improvements I have made have been whilst ‘playing’ at the driving range.
I dont think I heard this specified in the video, but when testing, did you guys alternate between prov1 and range balls at each swing, or did you first do a group of prov1s and then then a group of range balls?
range is great but you need to focus on feel and sound, once you can differentiate ball first vs mat first you cannot unhear it-ever. if your pounding the mat put some painters tape a few inches behind your ball it is incredible how much it cleans your swing up from contact to finish.
For many of us we can get distance on course, range is to get some drills in and ensure good strike. We can also calculate the limited flight and its not important to get distances perfect.
20k for a piece of tech a garage setup with net is beyond us.
Many ranges offer integrated monitors anyway that adjust for the range balls.
Also many ranges off "grass" to hit off this is key to practice as well.
AND they offer chipping and putting greens.
Thx Matt for this VERY insightful reality check, that we have all been through!!!
You know what I would like to see with your next robot test. What has more impact on the punch shot, ball back in stance or gripping down on the club?
Outstanding video!
Mr short game is just pumping out the videos. ❤❤
I agree with everything...except one factor not discussed - the value of hitting off grass vs a mat. Mats can be too forgiving, especially for a beginner/intermediate who is trying to dial in consistent solid contact. I think that would be a good video - compare 10 shots on grass with a portable launch monitor, then move over to a mat and hit 10 more shots with the same club.
Right. This video left me with the impression that the only two places really worth practicing are either a country club with decent pratice balls, or on a course. There is a third option, to find a field and bring a shagbag. But nobody is hitting driver out there.
Absolutely. Nobody hits an iron off a 3 inch tee 😂 The mat reduces spin and increases launch angle so increases the distance compared to turf.
Totally agree! That mat vs grass comparison would be far more valuable to me. Don't hit off mats anymore as not only are the results deceiving as to what to expect under real life conditions. As well, the impact of hitting off a mat over time is brutal on your arm and elbow joints. Unfortunately practicing off a mat doesn't mimic reality!☹
thank you so much for sharing this knowledge
I’m not sure why this is even a question. Range balls, at most courses and standalone ranges, are the cheapest quality balls you can get. Then, they all get hit 8000 times. High end courses usually have a decent range ball, but even on those, they are the rejects from regular production. I’m all for practicing, but overall, most players don’t even practice correctly at a range. They just sit there and pound balls. It’s essentially an income stream for a course, like carts. Some courses don’t even allow you to walk, because they want to stuff as many golfers as they can in carts in every tee time. I played at this one course recently, and it took over 5 hours to play 18 holes. They just stuff people on the course. They are more than happy to stick 4 people in carts with a cooler full of beer that they bought at the course. I mean they probably squeeze out $300 on every tee time on a weekend. At 9 tee times per hour, and 12 hrs of open course, they are raking in the cash.
Range balls they replace every blue moon, is just part of the income stream.
You are right! Golf courses don't care about how much fun you should be having, they just want to make as much money as they can. I have always thought that golf course should have a certain number of players that can play in about 4 hours , and just stop putting people out. That way you will keep coming back.
I've been behind 4 old walking farts that could care less about the groups behind them. Same goes with 4 old farts in golf carts. All you can do is say to yourself it's going to be a long day. Just saying
@@kevinhothan7328 thts when u just skip a hole and drive past em lol
good vid, but where i'm at here in NC (and i suspect most other ranges are like this as well), they're using multiple types of golf balls, most likely balls they've purchased from folks finding them on the side. You can tell a waterball from the others easily enough. Basically what i do is hit the decent ones with clubs i'd hit anywhere between 150-200 yards, the slightly worse ones for the 100 yard shots, and the REALLY bad ones for the 50 yard pitches. I wish i could afford one of those GC3's, but i can't. It would take me an untold # of range balls to save to purchase such a thing (well, maybe not untold --- actually it would take about 875 buckets at $8/bucket). I know it's not an exact science, but plenty of times you get some actually good-looking balls to gauge shots against.
Getting a feel for an iron hitting actual ground, seeing the launch of the ball, etc. just can't be replicated at an indoor facility. Mats have been known to let you get away with a poor swing, but you won't off actual grass. I'd rather see folks like myself of limited income working on their games at the driving range than nowhere at all.
What if the range uses Pro V1s? How long before those balls go bad? I don't play often but when I go to the range it's usually at a nice course someone I know is a menber at.
I own an R10 and purchased the awesome golf APP and already owned PRGR. So happy to be with 5% of a camera based system, on a budget $1000 or £700 UK
My practice is a 90 distance balls at my my local club from a shag bag. 60,52, 9i, 7i , 5i then the same targets with 56, PW, 8i, 6i. then Long irons, driver, short game is a separate session.
If foresight brought the price of the GC quad to $1000 yes I would buy. Tens of thousands would too. I refuse to pay $15,000 for 5 year old camera technology.
In the UK/Ireland we have a saying there is fast pounds (£1) and slow Fivers ( £5 notes). Slow fiver means you will sell a few but never sell a million.
I always hit some balls before I play just to get the motion of my swing warmed up. I will go hit large buckets at the range when Im trying something different or if I have the shanks but as a high handicapper I never really concern myself with distance simply because the range is so much different from play. I kinda always figured everyone felt the same.
thanks guys
I hit hook slices at my range every time I go. Some of the balls at my range are so old Arnold Palmer was using them. I basically just work on timing tempo and contact everything else is a guess
I don't know, we have shiny brand new (monthly or so) Titleist balls on our range, stamped with PRACTICE on the side, are they shorter than a ball not stamped PRACTICE???
Those are the best range balls. I have seen Callaway Crome Soft practice balls as well. Both the ProV1s and Chrome Soft practice balls are the real deal that didn’t pass QC to sell as new balls. It can be as minor as smudged writing on the ball to a not perfectly centered core. I don’t think the really bad ones even make the Practice ball batch. For the most part the Practice ProV1s are the same as a regular ProV1 but there is still a level of uncertainty with each one. If you take 10 swings with Practice ProVs, throw out outliers, then your average should be pretty darn close to actual averages with real ProVs.
Robot is like....Guys, can someone please get me a freaking beer???!
Great test and information
Matt do you know of a good inexpensive launch monitor for indoor or outdoor
use? Enjoyed your video. Our range uses OP balls they find on the course.
Foresight has some less expensive models. They even make the Bushnell launch monitor
Interesting results thanks for the video
If this isn't a wake up call for fitters and teaching instructors that use range balls I don't know what will. I was fitted at my club for a GT2 Driver last month and the Titleist fitter used our range balls and my fitting wasn't a good experience. NEVER AGAIN !
Great advice...but not all of us have the room or money to have a indoor range.
I thought it was common knowledge that the range with beat up range balls is where you go to get some swings in, fix your swing, work on swing thoughts etc...
I wish you would use the robot to compare a premium driver to a budget driver like the Kirkland Signature.
It would have been nice if you showed the dispersion chart for both prov1 and range balls.
I was so frustrated the other day. Went to a driving range which is a little short. I usually carry my 8 around 155. I couldn’t hit the range balls past the 140 marker. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
I want to see what the dispersion looks like for the ProV1's with the robot
@MrShortGame Golf: I’m trying to figure out what hoodie you’ve got on!! Who makes that?
I've played a round with a new range ball that was of decent quality and shot under par just for fun just because a friend of mine told me I couldn't. They're obviously never going to perform as good as the leading golf balls out there but nobody expects them to. I don't think anybody was thinking they were the same out here.
Cool test
Great video 👏
2:30 Now that's a single plane swing!
Bought 12 dozen ProV1X practice balls for about $25/doz for my sim since I play V1X on course. Best range in town! 😂
Ive never hit pro v 1's on a range. I guess the courses I play are definatlely lower end here in lower Alabama.
This is why I buy the Pro V1 practice balls...Pros use them on the range and they are 99.8% the same as one off the shelf! might have a tiny imperfection on the cover!
Great video, great test, but the graphics is just bad. You can’t out +10 and -10 on each sides, because that it makes 20 difference. Which is not the case. You should either show the value (like 130 yards) on one side and then +10 on the other or just one of those
Brysons swing looks good
Brilliant highlighting. I thought it was only distance affected. Like the tester said, results were with a robot dialled in. A human? Well.......
Only issue hitting at home is that I don’t get realistic spin numbers off of my mat. Trying to find a solution to this!
Spray mat with a bit of water
The robot has a swing to die for!
Did you move back to CA?
I can luckily say that my Club uses 2-piece golf balls as their range Bas instead of 1-piece golf balls.
Short irons will be closer in prov1 vs range, the driver distance will be the bigger difference since ball doesn't compress as well.
By the way - I love your content - especially the ones where you play on some pretty bad courses😅
Should have mentioned the spin rate too mate
my local range has a menagerie of random balls, some from under the water some with rubber bands in them, some are ladies, some are just rocks painted white I believe. so range work is kinda odd, use it for muscle memory. putting and chipping a just carry a dozen of what i am having luck with on course.
Haven’t been to an Driving range in Years ,hit some in my back yard into woods ,Shot 71 -1 under last week . Five Shoulder Surgeries ,7 knee surgeries ,just don’t have all those swings ,play 2 -3 Days an week 18 holes.
you should do more like this!
I hit the draw fade shot often and it’s with high end balls.
I have never gone to the range for distance . I go for shot shape and impact practice . I honestly can't believe that every one does not know this . But in every bucket of balls there are some balls that are almost like new . I keep those for my driver and all the shitty ones for my chipping and short irons .
That guy is so cool
Trouble is most people don’t hit from grass when practising - they hit from mats or other surfaces.
This all impacts distance on real courses as ball does not sit up - therefore affects distance and direction much more (in my opinion).
Whether you use a hard/soft/‘standard’ range ball - the difference will be marginal.
Everyone makes as if 10yards distance difference is massive - it’s NOTHING for the standard golfer.
A natural turf range where you simply focus on strike, arc, ground contact (or warming up for a round) is fine when the balls are questionable. If you need to focus on target accuracy, distance, will definitely need to hit some decent quality balls, preferably at a quality range/club. Hitting off of a mat has other deception issues!😮
range balls don't go as fast or as far as brand new pro v's??? whoa! mind blown!
I don't care about the distance of range balls, never have. I know how far my irons go. I trust that. I just use the range to warm up and when I practice, to work on whatever it is I need to work on. I know when I hit the center of the face, and since I play at a very good course, the range balls aren't all scuffed up and gouged.
I hit'm long and straight on the range and longer and straighter on the course, always taking into account that my short irons go a lot farther on the course so I basically go down a club and everything evens out. I think spending time hitting range balls is not a waste of my time.
When I find real golf balls on the course while playing if they are not the same ball that I play I put them in a bag so that when I go to practice on the range I will have enough of them to hit atleast 6 clubs on the range 5 times. Exp: so i will practice with the range balls hitting all my clubs 5-10 times with the range ball then I will go back and pick 6 clubs to hit 5 times with the real balls using a launch monitor.
I dont know why I like going to the range. Every ball hit well is a draw which on the course I literally have never hit a draw on purpose ever.
The joy of zero consequences. ..
@@danielowen5889 Lol you aint lying
One local range just uses "lost" balls from the course, you could get a bucket and hit 50 different brand/models of balls. obviously that has it's own drawbacks, but it's a nice way of finding a new ball, buy a dozen and try out next round.
Jesus your channel has come such a long way since I first subscribed. I remember when you building and hitting balls in your backyard net and then built the indoor putting green. Now you’ve got robots and drones?! So sweet
A caveat: I found that my "accuracy" decreased over time using my GC3 launch monitor. On my GC3 I hit my practice balls hundreds of times each and found my (simulated) game was slowly getting worse on my stats. My question is: What is the correlation of the condition of the golf ball using a launch monitor? I'm sure the dimples are being worn down as well as just general degradation - how does this show up on a launch monitor? Does it matter the quality of the ball using a launch monitor?
The range I go to use Taylor Made TP5 balls. Not those hard Wilson range ball you normally see
The range ball just tells me the least distance I can send it! The Strata ball seems to be better than others!